Do you remember the robot in the cartoon ‘The Jetsons’? If so, you are most likely a baby boomer. And as life imitates art, you may have your very own robot to assist you through your golden years.
The uBOT-5 is designed to help seniors by dialing 911 in case of emergencies, give medication reminders, help with grocery shopping and clear obstructions in hallways. It can even allow people to talk to loved ones or health care providers via a Web cam, microphone and LCD display screen.
“Grandma can take the robot’s hand, lead it out into the garden and have a virtual visit with a grandchild who is living on the opposite coast,” said Rod Grupen, Project Manager. He noted that isolation leads to depression, which tends to strike the elderly.
Grupen and his colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who designed uBOT-5, said that the robot will allow many of the 77 million Americans, expected to retire over the next 30 years, to live independently with less need for caregivers and community services.
“For the first time, robots are safe enough and inexpensive enough to do meaningful work in a residential environment,” Grupen said.
The uBOT-5 has a semi-human shaped ‘body’ (made of electronics caged behind a chest plate), mechanical arms and a LCD screen for a head. They are balanced on two wheels. Its sensors act as eyes and ears. This allows it to recognize human activities, such as walking or sitting.
It can also note an abnormal event, such as a fall, and notify a remote caregiver through an interface. If the person is unresponsive, the robot can call 911 and apply a digital stethoscope to the patient which conveys information to an emergency response unit en route.
Of course, in a few years, that ambulance may ‘land’ at your door instead of park - just like the car in ‘The Jetsons’.
© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
|
